Precirix announces key leadership appointments
Brussels, Belgium, 20 July 2023 – Precirix, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision radiopharmaceuticals in oncology, announces changes in its board and senior management team following the Series B funding.
Precirix successfully closed a EUR 80m Series B financing round in 2022 with new investors INKEF Capital, Jeito Capital and Forbion and participation of existing shareholders Gimv, HealthCap, Novo Holdings, Pontifax Venture Capital, V-Bio Ventures, BioMed Partners, as well as the seed investors, allowing the company to advance its pipeline and expand its teams.
Upon closing of the financing round, the shareholders have nominated Simon Sturge as independent director and chairman of the board in succession of Thomas Ramdahl who remains an independent director. Simon has over 30 years of international biotech and pharma experience with leadership positions at Merck Group and Boehringer Ingelheim. He held CEO roles at several biotech companies, including Kymab (now Sanofi), and founded Ribotargets (Vernalis).
Further to strengthening the board, changes were also made to the leadership team, with the addition of Jennifer Wheler as consulting Chief Medical Officer and Josie Gayton as Chief Development Officer. Jennifer has over 20 years of experience as an oncologist specializing in early drug development in academia and industry, as an Associate Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, a Clinical Program Leader at The Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), and as CMO for early biotech companies including Bicara Therapeutics. Josie has been active in clinical operations and program management in biotech and pharma companies for over 20 years. Most recently she served as Senior VP, Program Strategy, Operations and Chief of Staff at Aeglea Biotherapeutics and she previously held project management and strategic roles at Ipsen and Servier. Josie will lead portfolio and program management as well as oversee clinical operations within Precirix.
Finally, Precirix’ board of directors and Tony Lahoutte, Chief Scientific Officer and scientific co-founder, have mutually agreed that Tony will transition from an operational role in the company to a role as a board observer.
Ruth Devenyns, CEO of Precirix, comments: “Tony decided to prioritize his academic career over his executive role at Precirix. We want to thank him for his work and dedication. As a founder, he has been instrumental in developing the company's technology and pipeline, advancing CAM-H2 from a concept to a clinical product candidate”. She further added: “With the addition of Jennifer and Josie, and together with Dimitrios Mantzilas as our Chief Technology Officer, our executive team covers the key expert areas to successfully develop our pipeline and to lead our talented teams. It’s a privilege to lead this group in close collaboration with the board and our chairman Simon Sturge, who brings a wealth of experience.”
About Precirix
Precirix is a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to extending and improving the lives of cancer patients by designing and developing precision radiopharmaceuticals, using camelid single-domain antibodies labeled with radioisotopes. Precirix’ lead program, HER2-directed radioligand CAM-H2 (131Iodine), is currently enrolling in Phase 1 dose escalation at sites in North America. A second program, targeting Fibroblast Activation Protein, is transitioning into the clinic. Research on multiple isotopes, linker technology and combination therapies further expand the platform. Precirix’ technology also allows for a theranostic approach, where patients can be selected using a low dose/imaging version of the product, followed by a therapeutic dose for treatment.
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